Having trouble? See if we've answered your question below. If not, please call or email us. You can always reach us at 845-481-0155 or at editor@watershedpost.com. (Please forgive us if it takes a while for us to get back to you, especially via email.)
Who are you people, and what is the Watershed Post?
We find, report and curate news from around the Catskills region, where New York City's water comes from. For more on who we are and what we do, check out our About Us page.
We post fresh stories on the front page every day. (Well, just about every day. Sometimes we take a weekend off, like sane people.) If you leave your computer to get a cup of coffee and come back, we might already have something new. So check back often!
For those who prefer their news in email form, we have an email newsletter that puts the freshest headlines right in your inbox. You can subscribe to that by clicking here.
We organize our posts by a few main topics, which you can get to from the menu at the top of the page. For instance, you can click on the Arts topic to get all the freshest Arts posts.
If you like the site, we encourage you to register for a username and password. Let us know if you get confused. We're working on making things simpler around here.
Why should I register?
Logged-in users can do things that anonymous users can't -- like post events to the calendar, put listings in the directory, and submit their own stories to the editors. And if you sign up promptly, you'll get the username you want before somebody else snags it.
How do I register?
To post events, announcements, and businesses on the Watershed Post, you must register a username and password on our site. To register, you can click the "Register" link on the top of our homepage, or click this link: www.watershedpost.com/user/register.
Once you've picked out a username, our system will send us an automatic email asking us to review your account. We will take a look at your username and email address to make sure you are a real person and not a spammer, so please try to use your real name or the name or your organization as your username -- that makes it much more likely that we will approve your account.
Once your account is approved, you will get a confirmation email. Once you get that, you’re in. You can log in to our site using your username and your one-time password and begin posting immediately. (Make sure to change your password the first time you log in. To do that, click the “edit” button on your account page, and then enter your new password.)
If it's taking us too long to approve your account, email us!
What's up with all those links in the column on the right hand side of the page?
There's a lot of cool stuff in there. In the top right corner is the "Sponsored Stories" column, a way for our local businesses to show their news, coupons, sales promotions and more directly to our readers. (Business owners: We offer the best online advertising around.)
Why does my Facebook information appear at the bottom of stories and posts on your site?
We use Facebook to host comments on our site. If you are logged into Facebook while looking at the Watershed Post, your Facebook profile photo will appear atop a comment box on the bottom of stories and posts. If you find that creepy, just log out of Facebook.
FREE WAYS TO GET THE WORD OUT
Free events calendar
Use our free Catskills-wide events calendar. Any registered user can add an event to our calendar by clicking "Post > calendar event" under the "Manage My Account" menu. For more detailed instructions about how to post events, click here. You can also email us event info at events@watershedpost.com, although those events won't make it into the calendar. (We use that email address to keep track of events for possible stories.)
Free announcements
Free business directory
All registered users can ad business listings to our directory for free. Business listings can include photos, video, and unlimited text. Click here to add your listing, or click here for more detailed instructions.
Be sure to check out our How to Post page for instructions on using our free tools.
ADVERTISING
I'd like to put an ad on your site.
The Watershed Post offers the best online advertising in the Catskills. Find out more here.
I want to get my news published in the "Sponsored Stories" column.
For $25 a month, you can start publishing your press releases, photos, menus, sales and more as often often as you want. Contact sales@watershedpost.com to get started, or click here to find out more.
I am a full-service business subscriber, and I'd like to have an item posted in the "Sponsored Stories" column.
Email us the text of the post and any videos or photos you'd like to appear. We will process your post shortly.
If I buy a "Sponsored Stories" subscription, how do I renew it at the end of the month or year?
Our system keeps track of when you signed up, and automatically debits your PayPal account at the beginning of each new month or year. Your listing will be active for a full month or for a full 365 days no matter when in the year you signed up. You may cancel future payments for your premium listing at any time through PayPal by selecting "cancel" on the recurring payment's details page. If you cancel, your listing will remain active until the end of the current pay period.
How do I post my own sponsored stories?
Look at the top of the page, just under the search box. Are you logged in? If not, you'll see a link that says "Log in." Once you're logged in, go to the "Manage My Account" menu on the righthand side of the page. Click "Business News" under the "Post" menu, and begin typing your news. Then press "save" at the bottom of the page. Your post will publish in minutes.
When I search for my business in the directory search box, nothing comes up, even though I know it's there.
It takes a few hours for our site to index new directory pages to make them searchable. Try searching for it again later. If it still doesn't show up after 24 hours, drop us a line at sales@watershedpost.com.
I can't find the category I want to list my business under.
Our categories are pretty broad--much broader than a typical Yellow Pages. We think that makes it easier for readers to browse the directory, and for businesses to put their listings in the right place without having to wade through hundreds of categories. To help narrow down broad categories and describe businesses more specifically, we use Tags. In the Tags field of your listing, enter as many keywords as you like to describe your business. And if you really can't find a category your business fits under, let us know.
NEWS
How do I get you to cover my story?
We're always hungry for story ideas. Send ideas and press releases to editor@watershedpost.com. We're more likely to write about something if:
- it's news that would appeal to a Catskills-wide audience
- it has images included in the email
- your email is short and has a clear and simple subject line
If we don't respond to your email, please feel free to email again or call 845-481-0155. We have a tiny staff of one full-time person doing news, so we can't get to everything. But we will try!
Can I pay you to write a story about my business/event/project?
Nope. You can't pay us to write articles for you, or to have them featured in the news section of our site. (Not even if you're an advertiser.) But you can buy our "Sponsored Stories" subscription and post your own press releases and info to our designated "Sponsored Stories" section. Click here for details.
I like what you're doing here, and I want to contribute.
We are always looking for:
- Notices of upcoming events. Put your own events into our free Catskills-wide events calendar, and alert us via email at events@watershedpost.com.
- Timely first-person accounts of events, festivals or public meetings. If you're planning on attending something and would like to cover it for us, drop us a line.
- Photographs from around the watershed area. We have a Flickr group open to anybody interested in seeing their photos featured on our site. If you're a Flickr user, you can contribute photographs by posting them to the Watershed Post group and tagging them "watershedpost." Posting photos to Flickr is free, and you can sign up on their website.
- Ideas for investigative stories.
- Documents.
- Maps.
- Genealogies, old photographs, and histories or first-person accounts of life in the watershed (especially the drowned towns where the reservoirs are now).
If you've got something you'd like to share, email us at editor@watershedpost.com.
I am interested in using or republishing the content featured on this site.
Use basic netiquette: If you quote us, please credit us with a link or an attribution. If you'd like to reprint something, contact us at editor@watershedpost.com and we'll work something out.
I am a student looking for an internship.
Send us a couple of samples of your work (writing, blogging, photography, video, audio, etc.), and a letter that explains why you'd like to intern with us. Interns should be able to commit to about ten hours a week for at least three months. We accept applications year-round. If we take you on, we'll gladly help you arrange to get credit for your internship.
I am a professional journalist/writer/photographer/artist/etc. with an idea for the Watershed Post. How can I pitch you? What are your freelance rates?
We will gladly accept pitches on topics relevant to our area and our readers. Contact us at editor@watershedpost.com for details. We were freelancers once, too, and we are commited to paying our writers.
How is this site funded?
Our business plan is based on the idea of providing services to the watershed community, most of them free and a few of them for a fee. We sell sponsored stories and display ads, and the money goes to supporting everything else, including the free news, event calendar, business directory, and user community.
We've received grants from the International Women's Media Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Nicholas B. Ottaway Foundation, but the bulk of our work is funded by advertising.
I keep reading all this stuff lately about how nonprofit funding is the last hope for journalism. Why aren't you a nonprofit?
We think we stand a better chance of surviving as a for-profit enterprise. Time will tell.
I love that I can visit your website and get all this useful information for free. How can I support it?
We have a whole page about how to support the Watershed Post here. But here's the cheat sheet: If you use our directory, tell the businesses you visit that you found them here. If you have a business, advertise with us. Shop local. Eat local. Contract with local service providers. Tell us what's going on in your town. Most of all, connect with us. Send us email, comment on our stories, or talk on our Facebook page. We're building a better online newspaper, and we need your help to do it.
What's with the name? Why "watershed?"
The watershed touches everybody with a stake in the region, New Yorkers and locals alike. Whether they're aware of it or not, everybody who lives in or drinks from the watershed is already connected. We'd like to help get more conversations going.
